How do we know the warming is a result of the buildup of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere from human activity, and not the result of natural climate variability or some other natural cause?
The search for exactly that kind of proof has gone on during the 1990s, and is sometimes referred to as the search for the “Greenhouse Fingerprint.” Typically, what we are looking for is some sort of “Greenhouse Signal” that emerges against a backdrop of noise. The noise is the natural variability in climate data or trends. To find such a signal requires identifying some distinctive results that would only be likely to occur as a result of warming caused by the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate models could predict certain results that should be expected, and then actual data would be examined to see if they conform closely enough to the expected results to be statistically significant. The science bearing on this issue has been reviewed in each of the 3 assessments conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In its first assessment, in 1990, the IPCC concluded that we could not yet tell with any certainty that humans were responsible for th
Related Questions
- How do we know the warming is a result of the buildup of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere from human activity, and not the result of natural climate variability or some other natural cause?
- How Do We Know that Atmosphere Increases in Greenhouse Gases are Due to Human Activity?
- How are human activities changing the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere?
